Earthquake-ravaged Amatrice and its namesake pasta, bucatini all’Amatriciana, hold a special place in Gianluca Demontis’ heart. So he and fellow chefs are cooking up donations, hoping you dine in to help out.
“I feel very attached to the town,” said the owner of Fraschetta in Bryn Mawr and Melograno in Philadelphia. “Ristorante Roma – that’s where I learned to make that dish. It’s not there anymore.”
His mother grew up 20 kilometers away, and the family was visiting her hometown when it happened. Demontis, his wife and children had just left the region, grateful their relatives are OK and determined to make a difference.
“We are donating $5 from each dish,” he said, calling the classic combination of tomatoes, pecorino Romano and guanciale (cured pork jowl) “something I have to have once a week.”
“It’s actually my favorite pasta dish, hands-down. I make it all the time,” agreed chef Joe D’Andrea of Vera Pasta in West Chester, who’s giving 25 cents per pound of his best-selling bucatini.
He toured Amatrice during culinary school and said, “It was amazing, absolutely amazing.”
Chef Jay Chadwick of The Inn at St. Peters Village also shares a personal connection. His family’s from “a town 45 minutes away,” and he worked in L’Aquila “that was hit by an earthquake in 2009.”
“If we don’t help these people and we don’t preserve these ancient towns, there’s a lot of history that we lose,” Chadwick explained. “We’re trying to do a little something” by donating the profits from bucatini all’Amatriciana.
“We’ve gotten crazy response from guests who love the dish,” which “was not invented in a restaurant. It was invented by Italian grandmothers hundreds of years ago,” he said. “The town’s always been very proud of this dish.”
“It’s just packed with flavor,” added Jenny Young. “The purest recipe doesn’t even have onions or garlic in the sauce.”
An instructor at Cooking Spotlight in Phoenixville and personal chef, she’s making it for clients and contributing “everything above my cost.”
“Italian cooking is just simple, good ingredients that work really well together, and this dish is the epitome of that,” said chef John Brandt-Lee of Avalon in West Chester.
He’s pledging $5 per order, as is Ristorante San Marco in Ambler.
“People are really reaching out,” described Josephine Leone. “I’ve even had people just come in and donate money.”
At Arde Osteria & Pizzeria in Wayne, “we didn’t even think twice,” said Scott Stein, who’s donating $2 per bucatini all’Amatriciana and $3 for each pizza version. “Hopefully, we can help raise some money and also bring awareness.”
Three chefs shared their recipes for the famous dish.
Bucatini all’AmatricianaServings: 4
Ingredients1 pound bucatini4 cups crushed San Marzano tomatoes
6 ounces sliced guanciale (We use locally produced 1732 Meats guanciale.)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Pinch of salt1 cup grated pecorino cheese
InstructionsBring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the bucatini when it is boiling hard. Slowly cook guanciale in the olive oil over medium-low heat. Remove from heat when the guanciale is golden. Do not brown, as it will become bitter. Add crushed tomato and pepper flakes and salt. Reduce over low heat while cooking the pasta.
Remove the pasta about a minute before it is cooked to al dente and add it to the sauce, cooking it over medium-high heat until the sauce starts to stick to the pasta. Remove from the heat and toss in most of the pecorino, tossing and mixing the pasta so the cheese incorporates into the sauce. Divide into four bowls and finish with the rest of the pecorino cheese.
RECIPE COURTESY OF CHEF JAY CHADWICK
Bucatini all’AmatricianaIngredients
Extra-virgin olive oil8 ounces guanciale, cut in 1/4-inch strips
2 large onions, cut in 1/2-inch dice
1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt2 (28-ounce) cans San Marzano tomatoes, passed through the food mill
1 pound Vera Pasta’s fresh bucatini
1/2 cup grated pecorino Romano, plus extra for garnish
InstructionsCoat a large saucepan with olive oil. Add the guanciale and cook over low heat. Cook until it is brown and crispy and has rendered a lot of fat. Remove and reserve 1/3 of the guanciale for garnish. Bring the pan to a medium heat and add the onions and crushed red pepper. Season with salt, to taste. Cook the onions until they are translucent, starting to turn golden. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the sauce for about 1 hour, tasting periodically. Adjust the salt, as needed.
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for 1 minute less than the instructions on the package. Remove 3 or 4 ladlefuls of the sauce from the pot to a bowl. You can always add it back in, but it’s harder to take out once the pasta is in the pan. You’re looking for the perfect ratio between pasta and sauce. Drain the pasta from the water and add to the pot of sauce. Stir to coat with the sauce. This is how you always finish pasta; you cook it in the sauce to perform the marriage of the pasta and the sauce. Add more sauce, if necessary. Add in the cheese and drizzle with olive oil to really bring the marriage together. Toss to coat and serve in shallow bowls garnished with cheese and the reserved guanciale.
RECIPE COURTESY OF CHEF JOE D’ANDREA
Bucatini all’AmatricianaTraditionally, this dish is made with guanciale, but that is hard to find here, so I use pancetta. In a pinch you can always use bacon! Also, the sauce is traditionally served with bucatini, but I usually use spaghetti (imported Italian, of course).
Ingredients1 pound spaghetti or bucatini
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
7 to 8 ounces pancetta, sliced 1/4-inch thick into thin matchsticks
1 teaspoon hot chili flakes1 cup tomato sauce made from canned Italian tomatoes*
1/2 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
InstructionsBring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Heat olive oil in large skillet, add pancetta and cook until translucent. Add chili flakes and tomato sauce. Leave to simmer gently while pasta cooks. Cook pasta to al dente, drain reserving about a cup of the cooking water.
Add pasta to skillet, stir in the grated cheese, toss well – adding a little of the reserved pasta water to thin to desired consistency. Serve in bowls with additional cheese for sprinkling if you wish.
*I make my sauce with a small onion, sauteed until translucent in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add whole peeled San Marzano canned tomatoes, crushed in your hand, sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
RECIPE COURTESY OF CHEF JENNY YOUNG
